This invention relates to printing blankets and in particular to a so-called compressible printing blanket of the type used in offset lithographic printing.
In offset lithography the usual function of a printing blanket is to transfer printing ink from a printing plate to an article such as paper being printed whereby the printing blanket comes into repeated contact with an associated printing plate and the paper being printed. This repeated contact causes compression and permanent set (referred to as compression set) of the blanket with extended use whereby it is important that the blanket construction be such that it is self-recovering or resilient within acceptable limits even with compression set of such blanket to assure satisfactory printing. Ideally it is desirable to provide a blanket that is capable of providing satisfactory printing even with compression set over a wide range of interference between the printing blanket and printing plate, i.e., a wide blanket to plate interference range.